Space Heater Suspected in Colorado Station Fire

February 6, 2008

A Jan. 20 fire that destroyed the shared facilities of two TV stations in Grand Junction, Colo., may have been started by a defective space heater, the Grand Junction Sentinel reports.

KREX, the local CBS affiliate, and KFQX, the local Fox affiliate, shared space in this Western Slope community. Both were reported to have been knocked off the air by the fire, though the KREX digital transmitter, housed in a bomb shelter with 12-inch concrete walls, was spared. The newspaper reported that both stations were able to start transmitting a lower powered signal a week after the fire.

KREX is owned by Hoak Media Corp. of Dallas, Texas, which runs KFQX under a local marketing agreement. The damages were estimated at around $6 million.